Technical Field
This disclosure is directed to integrated circuits, and more particularly, to interfaces for providing access to an integrated circuit.
Description of the Related Art
Modern integrated circuits (ICs) have incorporated a significant amount of functionality compared to their predecessors. In particular, system-on-a-chip (SoC) ICs may incorporate onto a single IC die a number of functions, including that of general purpose processor cores, graphics processing units, various types of memories, and different interface units.
The different interface units may be used to extend the functionality of the device in which the SoC is implemented. For example, a universal serial bus (USB) interface unit may be implemented on an SoC, with the appropriate pins to enable connection of a USB device. Various USB peripherals may then be attached to the device in which the SoC is implemented. Similarly, an interface for a universal asynchronous receiver-transmitter (UART), with appropriate pins, may be implemented on an SoC. In general, circuitry and pins for a number of different interfaces may be implemented on an SoC (or IC in general) to the degree that such implementation if feasible.